OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Coach Regan.
It’s a familiar name for basketball fans in Old Orchard Beach as John Regan led the boys basketball team for 21 years and brought home the only state championship in program history back in 1988.
When the Seagulls take the court next winter there will once again be a Coach Regan on the bench as 2009 Old Orchard Beach High School graduate Matt Regan was named the next boys basketball coach this week.
OOB Athletic Director Dean Plante, who is also the girls basketball coach, felt Matt Regan was the right fit for the Seagulls.
“Longtime coach John Regan was his dad, so he gets the community. He gets the school and he understands how things work in Old Orchard,” said Plante. “He’s got, obviously, a great pedigree. Coach Regan Sr. was a staple in Old Orchard Beach for years and a mentor to a lot of the coaches who are still there, myself included. He’s a great guy and his son is of the same cloth. Matt’s a good guy who understands kids. He’s an educator first and it’s just a perfect fit for us.”
Regan will take over for former coach Mike Burke, who was hired when John Regan retired from teaching and coaching back in 2015. The younger Regan will get his first chance at coaching a varsity team after spending the last four seasons as the junior varsity coach for the Thornton Academy girls basketball program.
“I really wanted to get into coaching varsity basketball and I probably wouldn’t have made a move outside of Thornton. I really liked being at TA coaching with Eric Marston and Jeff Camire but I went to high school at Old Orchard, my dad coached at Old Orchard so there’s a lot of history there and I really like the Old Orchard Beach community. It just seemed like a really good opportunity,” said Regan, who also teaches at Thornton Academy.
Plante felt Regan’s time coaching under Marston was a major plus for the young coach.
“He’s coached in the girls program (at Thornton Academy) under Eric Marston, who has our utmost respect. I know he’s connected to (TA boys coach) Bob Davies and that crew, so he’s seen some good coaches and seen how to do it. I think he’s going to be an excellent fit for us,” Plante said.
While he may not be taking over for his legendary father, Matt Regan knows he has a lot of work to do to live up to the Regan name in OOB.
“I don’t know if I feel much pressure as I just kind of know they are pretty big shoes to fill,” Regan said. “I was obviously very proud of everything he did during his tenure at Old Orchard Beach. He was very successful and had a great rapport with the community, so I think they will be big shoes to fill but I’m excited for the opportunity and I’m excited to have him as a mentor during my time over there.”
One thing that will help Regan as he takes over the OOB program is the fact that longtime assistant coach Curt Chretien will stay on with the new regime.
“To have him coaching with me is really pretty exciting,” said Regan, who actually played for Chretien when he was at OOB. “He knows a ton about basketball … even when I was coaching at Thornton Academy I’ve stayed in touch with him and I ran things by him as far as what’s working for him and what he does. I’m really excited that he decided to stay on the staff and remain a part of the program.”
“Curt is an extremely important cog in many of our programs,” said Plante of Chretien, who was also a member of the 1988 state championship team.
The first thing Matt Regan will focus on is developing relationships with players at the high school level as well as working on building up the youth program.
“It seems like we have a couple seniors who are going to be pretty good leaders for us, impact players and then there’s also a really good group of sophomores. Kind of looking down the line, I’m excited to start working with the youth program over the summer and looking ahead to try and build the youth program up,” Regan said.
The OOB administration will give the young coach time to build the OOB program the way he envisions it, according to Plante.
“He’s a young coach and we hope he grows with the program. We graduate a lot of seniors and our hope is he grows with our young kids and continues the excellent tradition we have with boys basketball here,” said Plante.
“We were looking for someone who understood our community as well as got the game of basketball. Matt did a great job in the interview in terms of imparting how he wanted to build the program,” Plante continued. “He understands how things work in Old Orchard with the connection to the (recreation) program and middle school. He’s already reached out to a lot of those folks, so he has inroads here already and that’s going to speed the process, we hope.”
Plante was also quick to praise Burke, who had the tough job of following a legend like John Regan.
“Mike stepped into a very challenging position. He had a talented roster with an exiting coach that was extremely well liked and popular, and he did a fantastic job for us and Mike was welcome to stay,” said Plante. “He did a great job of maintaining the program and bridging the gap when John left. That’s not an easy guy to take over for and Mike was fantastic. Absolutely nothing but positive things to say about Mike Burke.”
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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